We've been living in a 2BR since '98 and so far it's been decent. As everyone's said in previous reviews, the parking is TERRIBLE if you don't come home before 8pm and FORGET getting a parking spot on Sundays before 7pm! It's as if noone ever leaves their apartment! Count on at least one parking ticket every few months.

NOISE/SOUND
We live off of a side road off of Davey so I have no complaints of car noise. But I think if you live off of Davey, you probably hear the noise from cars more, esp. the loud motorcycles passing by. So OUTSIDE noise is not so bad. But the INSIDE noise, that's another thing....

The walls are super-thin. You hear people's conversations (and arguements and "other" things) and if you live on the ground floor (like we do) and there are kids running around upstairs, forget it. You know exactly how many kids and what kinds of shoes everyone's wearing! And if your neighbors like to watch their TV loud, you have to turn up yours so you can hear it. We're not home most of the day and I think our upstairs neighbors work nights, so we seem to miss each other, BUT when they're home, you KNOW they're home.

PARKING
And wait, did I mention that the parking is TERRIBLE' Especially in the winter. We've had some bad snow storms the last couple of years and it's difficult to find parking already, so when they pile up the snow and place it in car spots, where ELSE are you going to park'! And in the fall, when they pile up the leaves in spots, it's the same thing! I think when this place was built, people either didn't have cars or each apt. had only one car so they planned the parking according to that. But everyone has a min. of TWO cars now and this complex can't seem to accomodate that. You can rent a parking an old parking garage for $50 a month but the only ones left are like blocks away (not very convenient if you've got a ton of groceries to bring in or a baby and all their paraphenelia to lug in!).

HEAT
They do turn up the heat in the winter (it's radiator heat so I'm not sure how easy that is to regulate). We live on the first floor, so it's not so bad, but I can imagine what it's like for the people on the second floors!

MAINTENENCE
Maintainence is decent. They respond within 24hours and the job they do is okay. We had one plank in our hardwood floors start to come up and expand (because of a water leak from the apt. upstair's bathroom). It took them awhile to fix it and when the guy came in to fix it, he said that it was still wet underneath the floors but he couldn't do anything about it, he was just there to replace the planks on the floor.

The grounds are well kept (esp. right in front of the sales office, of course!). What I don't understand are the people (mostly older couples) that set up GARDENS in front of their buildings. I think it's really tacky (with lawn ornaments and everything) but other than difference in taste, it doesn't seem to be a problem.

SAFETY
I think this complex is very safe (and it's NOT that close to Newark as someone metioned in a previous review). People are always walking with their kids and jogging. The grounds and streets are lit with street lights but it's not that bright. But I'd imagine that it couldn't be much brighter because the light would start bothering people in the apartments. I've heard of only a few car break-ins since we've been here but it doesn't seem to be a HUGE problem.

RECOMMENDED FOR...
I would recommend this complex to singles and couples with no kids since it's a decent size. But if you have kids, the space isn't so big for them to run around in. And management sends out a letter before every summer reminding people that noone's allowed to use the grounds for recreation. So basically they say that you're not allowed to have the kids run around outside and use the courtyards like a playground and you can't really "hang" out outside. BUT EVERYONE does it. Kids are always playing outside on their bikes and people take out their lawnchairs and just hang out. (This passed 4th of July, someone took out their picnic table and set up a picnic!)

OVERALL
I think Forest Hills is a decent place to live. The grounds are well-maintained and we haven't had that many problems with the building (just the ones that you would expect with living in ANY apt).

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